Rosetta Stone: A Great Way to Learn a Language

In all honesty, I do not like to learn languages and never thought I would try to learn a different one. However as life would have it, I was forced to learn one. My fiancée is Brazilian and in order to speak with her family and friends, I developed a desire to learn Brazilian Portuguese.

I began with books and CD’s. I did have some limited success with The Pimsleur Method. However, I still felt as if I was drowning. I was forcing my self to translate every word in my head as if I were a machine. For many months, I had noticed the Television ads for a language system called Rosetta Stone. When I began to research it, I found it a little price prohibitive, and I delayed in buying it. By happenstance, a friend of mine who is a Spanish teacher had a chance to try Rosetta Stone for Spanish. I asked her what she thought of it. Her reply was; “It could replace me.” I was hooked.

I ordered the level one Brazilian Portuguese version for $209. That price hurt, but I really wanted to learn. It arrived as a standard DVD with the added bonus of a very nice Plantronics headset. The instruction manual was thorough, and included a phrase guide. Install was straightforward in my Vista system.

As I began the program, I found some things a little overwhelming, but later discovered the power of all of the options. Once you start it, everything is in Portuguse, aside from the menu. It became obvious to me this was a wonderful “immersion” system that caused me to think in Portuguese. As an example, when leaning the Portuguese for “horse”, you will see a picture of a horse at the same time you see the word in Portuguese and hear a native speaker pronounce it. This causes you to begin to think in the foreign language. When I am in Brazil and see a horse, I do not think of the word horse and then translate in my mind. I simply think “cavalo”. There are many different exercises to practice comprehension, reading, listening, and speech. It even has a speech analyzer to assist you in proper pronunciation. You can design your own program of learning, or let the computer customize the pace for you.

Overall, I am very pleased with Rosetta Stone. While expensive, it is well worth it if you want to learn another language. It is far less expensive than a college course, and less time consuming. I am still learning, but I do not for a moment regret my decision to purchase Rosetta Stone.